


The Deal of a Lifetime

by inkyblink



Category: Dangan Ronpa: The Kyokoverse
Genre: Demon Deals, Gen, Prequel, The Void, more like god deals but there's no tag for that, unreality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkyblink/pseuds/inkyblink
Summary: ty for reading!
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	The Deal of a Lifetime

There was nothing.

There was always nothing.

And for as long as she didn’t exist, there would always be nothing.

The void was colder than the coldest winter and darker than the darkest night. There was no end to it, nor was there a beginning. It simply was. Its residents were incapable of thought, incapable of moving, incapable of anything other than resting and obsessively watching old memories over and over again. The void was, for lack of a better term, the universe’s garbage dump; a collection of all of its mistakes and one-time frivolities, its discarded projects and its unlucky remains.

One such nonbeing, amongst many others, found herself here. For the occasions where she was allowed to be, she went by the name Sonia Nevermind. She had four sets of memories to call her own, and each one was treasured deeply and guarded fiercely. They were all that was left of her as she was, after all.

There was one consistent theme among these memories: love. For nearly every moment she’d existed, Sonia was in love. In love with her duties, in love with her friends, in love with her significant other, in love with the world at large. And now, although she didn’t exist anymore, she was in love with her memories of existing. Watching them filled her with a splendid almost-feeling of warmth that was so hard to find in such a bleak nonenvironment. 

(Well, except for a few. Ones where she was so despairingly awful, she couldn’t stand to watch for more than a moment. Ones where she watched those same friends she loved so much die one by one right in front of her eyes, utterly powerless to do anything to stop it. Where she’d torn apart the world with her own two hands and spat in the face of all of her duties as a leader. If she could, she would give away those memories for good.)

If she could think in this state, she would suppose that she was lucky. It was rare that a nonbeing had such pleasant memories to keep for themself. Normal nonbeings usually slept until they existed. Others were saddled with unpleasant memories that they rewatched over and over again like her, just to come close to feeling anything. Yes, she was most certainly one of the lucky ones, and if she could share her opinion on that, she’d tell you she was as satisfied as a nonbeing could be.

  
(Which was, of course, not very satisfied at all.)

* * *

Something around Sonia, or perhaps inside of her, shifted very suddenly, just as abruptly as she’d become nonexistent. As far as she could see, nothing around her had actually changed. It was still dark, and cold, and empty.

But it was slightly more miserable, for the neverending vantablack stirred her long-dormant nerves, she could feel the nearly-unbearable cold coiling painfully around her, and the emptiness was starting to give her a sickening sense of foreboding. Whatever made her suddenly so aware of everything would be here soon, she could tell. Why else would she be so afraid?

An agonizing moment passed. Sonia realized that she could not move beyond shifting her line of sight. Of course, even if she could, she would have stayed in place. It would be unbecoming of a leader to run from the first sign of danger. She was a princess before all else, after all, and that sort of behavior was practically written into her very blood.

Another agonizing moment passed. Sonia realized that she had no form, at least, not a visible one. The arms she could feel freezing at her sides and the legs that would be quaking if they had the ability to were, most likely, nothing more than phantom limbs spawned from her memories of previous existences.

It had felt like an eternity when it finally spoke, although in unreality, it might have only been a few moments at most. Even with some form of consciousness, time was still hard to tell in the void. “It took forever to find you, you know,” it had said, exasperated, but still somewhat amused. “I hope you appreciate the lengths I’m going to for this.”

Sonia was still nervous. One, there was a strange, disembodied voice coming from right in front of her. She had no clue whether her guard could be safely let down or not. Two, the oddly casual tone of this being that she had never met before simply threw her off. Was that… normal in the void?

...Best to play it safe.

She attempted to speak, but her vocal cords refused to move and her lips remained shut. The voice laughed quietly at her attempt, which immediately struck her as odd, because Sonia should not have shown any external signs of a struggle. 

“I suppose I restricted you a bit too much. Mmmm… okay, try to speak now.”

“Ah, erm… Good day!” Sonia smiled as politely as she could manage. This was undoubtedly a being of immense power. To be anywhere but on good terms with this creature could be a deadly mistake. “It is very nice to meet you!”

“Same to you, although you won’t know me for long. The only reason we have a reason to speak now is because I have a proposition for you.”

“...A proposition? Please go on.”

“You know what, let’s do this in an environment a bit more familiar to you. I think you’ll be able to make a clearer decision there.” 

With a loud cracking noise, or perhaps more of a snap, the world around them changed. Like a blindfold being ripped away, the darkness that took up Sonia’s vision was replaced with moted dustlight filtering through stained glass windows, worn stone walls, and beaten earth. Just as the voice had promised, it was familiar, almost painfully so.

The home of the royal family of Novoselic was a lot smaller than one would expect, given their immense wealth.

“You can move now, by the way,” came an equally familiar voice from right behind her. Sonia spun around a bit quicker than would be considered proper, causing a bit of dust to kick up. Her mother sat in a chair behind her and gestured to an opposite one. She was holding herself differently, and her tone was more smug than it ever would have been under normal circumstances, but they looked the same, and if Sonia was less adept at controlling herself, she might have started tearing up.

Briskly and gracefully, she took a seat.

“Excellent,” chirped the being disguised as her mother. “Hold on a moment, just making some final preparations…” The table between them was covered with a cloth and adorned with a full tea set in the split second it took her to blink. “There. I hope you like the tea. It’s cinnamon.” It took a drink. Sonia followed suit as it spoke. “I’ll cut to the chase. I’m willing to give you another shot at existence. Permanently.”

Was that even possible? She had assumed (in hindsight, of course) that that sort of thing was picked at random. If this being was truly capable of such a thing, they were even more powerful than Sonia had first thought.

_It’s okay._ “I…” _Keep your wits about you._ “I am interested, but I would like to ask a few questions pertaining to the details. I am afraid I cannot accept your offer until they are answered.

It cocked its head to one side, smile unwavering. “Go right ahead.”

“Thank you.” Sonia took a small sip of tea. “First of all, would this come at any detriment to my or my loved ones’ wellbeing? If possible, I would like to read through a contract defining all of the terms and conditions of such a transaction. The time it would take is not an issue for me as long as I remain in this state.

Second of all, I want to know what you would gain from doing such a thing. While I would like to believe you’re entirely altruistic, I know that that is simply unrealistic. How would my existence benefit you?”

“Clever girl. I’d bet you were a marvelous princess.” It laughed again, her mother’s laugh, but much less genuine. The subtle change would have sent a shiver up her spine if it didn’t strengthen her resolve. _That isn’t my mother._

“You have been chosen for something much bigger than yourself. Not by me, fate, or any existing gods, but by your own friends.”

_My own friends…?_ “What?”

“To put it simply, they miss you. As one of the higher powers overseeing their journeys, it is my duty to do whatever makes the show more interesting. So, I decided to deliver you to them. Besides, after what has just happened to them, it seems as though they need someone like you.”

Her poise was thrown out of the window. “I… I am sorry, but you are not making any sense…! Higher powers? Show? What the fuck has happened to my friends?!”

It took a long swig from its teacup. “Relax. Their path has been charted out. They are no longer in danger, for the time being. In fact, things are going to get better for them soon. I am simply asking you to help speed the process of healing up.”

Sonia was… confused. This whole thing was extremely suspicious, but she wasn’t about to outright refuse the offer, not when it could be important, and certainly not when her friends were being dangled on a string right in front of her. So instead, she smoothed out her skirt and replied in a low tone: “...You did not answer my questions.”

“Well, I answered one of them. You just didn’t let me finish. I’m doing this because it’s my job. If you want another reason, I guess you could say it’s for my own amusement. As for your other question… physically, no. But there is a price.”

She sighed. That wasn’t hard to anticipate. Beings like this always wanted something in return for their services. She just hoped the price wasn’t her soul. Normally, she would have been somewhat willing to give something like that up, if only for the sake of experience, but these new revelations left her with too much to do. A soul would most likely be necessary for whatever was on the horizon. “And what would that be?”

“I’m glad you asked.” It poured itself a bit more tea. “I can’t just pop you into existence without a proper form, y’know. I tried to make you a body like the one you usually have, but the ones that didn’t dissolve after a few hours were obviously fake. To remedy that little kink, I decided that the best material to make your new body out of was memory!”

“I am afraid I do not understand,” Sonia nervously chuckled. “Did you say… memory?”

“Mhm. You’ll be able to be with your friends, but you won’t remember anything, and they won’t remember you! You’ll still be able to function though, and I can guarantee that you will become friends with them again. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get some of your memories back over time!”

“...I am sorry, but I do not think I can accept those terms.”

For once, the being met her eyes. “Hm?” Its vaguely amused tone was gone, replaced by clear confusion.

“From the moment of my birth, I have been raised to be a leader. It is my duty to understand the wishes of the people as well as the environment around me, and make the best possible judgement with all of that in mind. I still have to serve my country, and without memories, I could not possibly do that effectively. I would not want to burden my people, even if it is to my own detriment.” Sonia smiled. She missed her friends desperately, but they would survive without her. Novoselic would not. “So I appreciate your offer, but I must decline it.”

The being wearing her mother’s skin stared for a second more, before putting back on its unconcerned grin. “Ah, so that’s it. You know, your memories of despair no longer apply to reality, but that despair itself still does. Just in other people. If the world tears itself apart like they want, then there’s no doubt that your kingdom will be torn apart too.”

The sun was shining through the stained glass windows. If you tried hard enough, you could hear children playing outside of the building and workers bustling between the different floors, even though they weren’t actually there. It was this kind of day that Sonia missed the most. If she didn’t accept, she might never see something like this again. The being continued speaking after a brief pause to finish drinking. “Your friends have the ability to defeat that despair and save the world. Joining their ranks would be the best thing you could do for your kingdom right now.”

Sonia gripped her teacup just a bit tighter. “And how do I know that you’re not lying about that to get me to make a deal with you?”

“I guess you can’t say for sure, but as you are, there’s no chance of you doing anything for your kingdom.”

She sighed. To deny would mean near-certain doom for her people. To accept would mean slightly less certain doom for her people. This whole meeting had been based upon her making a decision of her own free will, yet in the end, she didn’t have a choice.

She finished her cup of tea. The cinnamon burned going down her throat. Quietly, she stood up and faced ‘her mother’, who grinned excitedly back at her. “...Okay. I accept your offer, demon.” Sonia held out her hand. The being reached out in return and shook it.

Slowly, everything began to disappear in a wave of pure white light.

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading!


End file.
